Three including a Nigerian held in Chennai for supplying dark web drugs to pub

Indian authorities have arrested three persons, including a Nigerian man, age 30, for engaging in illegal drug distribution. According to the report, the trio were active distributors of synthetic drugs to pubs in Porur and its surrounding area. The Indian authorities revealed that the arrested dealers operated with a clear intention of supplying dark web ordered drugs to tourists in Goa. They aimed to make them addicted to drugs so they would become their long-term customers and expand their business.

This arrest is a product of an investigation into the case of Nikhil Tiwari. Tiwari was arrested by the South Indian City of Chennai police on 22 August 2018 for attempting to order drugs on the dark web. As claimed by authorities, the execution of a search warrant in his residence led to the discovery of 20 grams of MDMA, 62 ecstasy pills and five sheets of LSD stamps. The report further reveals that Tiwari was a regular distributor of MDMA to college students, and he knew most of the significant drug distributors in the area. The investigation, which lasted about a month, brought the recently arrested suspects into the police radar. C. Diwakar (33), K. Kumaresan (26), and Chukwu Simon Obinna (30) have been identified as the suspects.

Authorities later used the available information to reach Kumaresan and Diwakar. A search warrant was executed by the police and led to the discovery of 8 grams MDMA, 18 grams cocaine, and, also, 10 grams black meth. After finding this evidence, the authorities then engaged them to find the source of their supply. Through this, it was established that Obinna was their main supply of synthetic drugs, and they quickly arrested him.

Before Obinna was arrested, the Ambattur Deputy Commissioner with his men designed a strategy to fish Obinna out of his hideout. The police used Kumaresan as bait for this strategy. According to the report, the police ordered synthetic drugs from Obinna and made it look like Kumaresan made the order. They then arranged a meeting place to receive the drugs. On Sunday evening, as reported, Obinna arrived at the destination, which was close to the Osian Chlorophyl Apartment, which is off the Perungalathur-Maduravoyal bypass road. Authorities then surrounded him and handcuffed him. Obinna told the police that he obtained the drugs from another person, however, the truth behind this claim will be revealed in the ongoing investigation.

According to the police, they have made it a priority to investigate whether the drugs were obtained within the country or outside of the country. The officer told reporters that ecstasy tablets are in huge demand in India: “While cocaine is the most powerful of all and is consumed through nostrils, ecstasy tablets are in huge demand in the city and are often misused in pubs to seduce women.” In this regard, the police will continue to arrest illegal drug dealers and reduce the risk linked to consumption.

Authorities seized a total of 512 ecstasy tablet, four phones, and a laptop from Obinna. In addition to the confiscated items, the police confiscated a weighing machine and cash of `42,000. It was then said that Diwarkar and Kumaresan became part of the network after Obinna designed the master plan of using tourists to enlarge his business.

A similar arrest was made recently when the Delhi police crime branch came across Mahesh Goyal purchasing drugs on the dark web. He hinted that he had a taste of ecstasy in a nightclub in Chennai for the first time and later learned that he could use the dark web to acquire some safely.

Though the authorities have made efforts to reduce the high rate of illegal drug distribution in the country, it has been reported that the popularity of the dark web in recent times has made things difficult. At first, drugs were sent into the country by foreigners, according to Davidson Devasirvatham, the Commissioner of Police in Madurai City, who was the Zonal Director (DIG) of NCB Chennai. Now, people use the online platforms to order them from outside the country into the country, especially college students. It is expected that the effort to arrest illegal drug traffickers in the country will continue.